In Hensley v. Eckerhart (1983), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on how many hours a winning lawyer may charge to the losing side. The Court said: “In the private sector, ‘billing judgment’ is an important component in fee setting.”
Its test was the private client. “Hours that are not properly billed to one’s client also are not properly billed to one’s adversary.” Courts since then have cut hours they find excessive or unnecessary.